


Holiday Cheer

by Rioghna



Series: Holidays and other firsts [8]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: At least in places, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Light Angst, Magical Accidents, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-27
Updated: 2015-01-03
Packaged: 2018-03-03 18:59:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2868668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rioghna/pseuds/Rioghna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rumplestiltskin and Belle are trying to celebrate Christmas.  Family, Gifts, a couple of parties...what could possibly go wrong?  Part of the 'Holidays and Other Firsts 'verse.  Takes place between 'Winter Wonderland' and 'What are you doing New Year's Eve'</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Christmas Eve--morning.

Holiday Cheer

The morning of the party dawned clear, and Belle found herself trying to extricate herself from her lover's embrace without waking him. In the old world, Rumplestiltskin had been reluctant to touch her, or rather, he had been reluctant to believe that she would touch him. But now, having found one another again, he had become quite the opposite. From the moment she had moved back into the house with him, he had slept tangled with her, as though afraid she would slip away. He would have probably said the same of her as well though. Truth was, they had come through so much that they were both terribly afraid of losing each other. She was slightly better than he was, actually, having more trust in him and the universe in general. They had simply fought too hard not to be given their happy ending. However, at this moment, she wanted nothing more than to slip out of bed as quickly and quietly as possible. She could feel it coming on, that horrible nausea welling up from her stomach. Carefully she managed to extricate herself and make a dash for the bathroom while he rolled over to pull her pillow into his embrace.

Belle made it to the bathroom just in time for her stomach to revolt completely. She had really hoped after two days nausea free that she was over it. Instead she knelt on the bathroom tile waiting for the misery to end. Suddenly warm hands were on her neck, lifting her hair back from her face and stroking her trembling frame. "Why didn't you wake me up?" he whispered, as he handed her a glass of water and offered her a hand off the floor.

"I didn't see the need to wake you up, it's nothing," Belle told him.

"It is something, love. If you won't let me do anything, perhaps we could get the doctor..." he said as he guided her back to the bedroom. "You should rest."

"Rumple, we talked about this, it's just morning sickness, its perfectly natural and we agreed, no magic, we don't know what it would do. This is not your first child," Belle said, but allowed him to guide her towards the bed. She could tell he had literally come to her straight from bed, naked after last night's...well, they hadn't felt like getting back up for nightclothes. He was wearing only his slippers, his limp more pronounced as his cane was still hooked on edge of the bed. She smiled joyously and reached to drag him back into their cosy nest.

"Yes, but I was away when she was pregnant, so technically this is my first pregnancy, and no one has ever been as important to me as you are, except my son. Let me get you some ginger tea." He gave her a heart melting smile and he grabbed his robe and cane.

"But..."

"Perhaps when I get back love, I will let you convince me," he said as he dragged his robe on, and picked up his cane.

Belle curled back up in the bed and smiled as she watched him. The changes that had come over both of them since his return and their reunion had been amazing and not a little unsettling. Just watching him head downstairs to make them tea in a robe and slippers was more than she would have seen only a short while before. When they had first become intimate he had been overly self conscious of some perceived inadequacies about his body (and really, if his first wife had still been alive, Belle would have been tempted to do something unfortunate and unlike her to the woman). But slowly she had convinced him exactly how much she loved him, and exactly how much she appreciated his lean, wiry frame. Unlike her former fiancé, Gaston, he didn't tower over her, or overwhelm her with his bulk. They fit together, like a pair of perfect puzzle pieces. It was convincing him that had taken time. Halloween might have done a lot for that though, she thought with a quiet giggle. She had insisted on costumes, and he had spent the magic to restore his old appearance. When they had turned up at Mary Margaret's party that way, people had been a little shocked, but he was the one shocked when after the shortest possible polite interlude, she had practically dragged him home to bed. She couldn't help it, after all she had fallen in love with him when he looked like that, it was familiar, the face and body that had haunted her dreams. That she was willing and more than to make love to him that way had done wonders for his confidence.

It was going to be a long day, she knew that. Even with Eve and Ruby coming over to help, there was a lot of preparation for tonight's party. At least it was going to be a modest affair, nothing too formal. But it would be the first party that she was aware of there ever being at this house (Thanksgiving dinner didn't count, it had been only family) and certainly he'd never had parties at the Dark Castle. Also, neither of them was fond of crowds and having more than just the family to the house was bound to be a bit unsettling. It was a big adjustment for both of them and she was a little nervous, though she would never let him know.

Belle was really trying to get into the spirit of this Christmas holiday, and really what was wrong with a little more celebrating? She had gotten him to decorate (rather, she had decided on decorating and gotten him to agree and even help). Though she had tried to be as tasteful and gentle with it as she could, sticking mainly to things like evergreens and holly, which were the symbols for the season at home, with candles, and ribbons. She admitted to being charmed by the fairy lights, and the ornaments they had found for the tree were probably more staid than a lot of peoples. She'd also picked out two very pretty stockings and hung them on the mantle. But she had stayed away from Santa Claus, since it made Rumplestiltskin absolutely livid for reasons she couldn't fathom. She'd even managed to get him to decorate the shop just a little, nothing too fancy, just a wreath on the door, and some candles and garland at the windows, and tasteful fairy lights. If anyone thought it resembled the decorations for the house, then they didn't say anything. She was just contemplating how much time she had to herself today before her help arrived, when he came back in with tea.

"I made you a bit of toast as well," he said, as he pushed the bedroom door closed behind him. "Are you sure you are feeling well, perhaps..."

"We are not canceling the party," she told him sharply as she sat up in bed, distracting him from whatever he was about to say as the blankets slipped down to her waist.

Further discussion was canceled by what was a much more pleasant interval involving him feeding her tea and toast, and cuddling in the warm bed until they both slipped back into a pleasant sleep. Belle's last thought before slipping into unconsciousness was a wicked idea about how to wake him up properly later.

Unfortunately when they woke again, it was to realise that they were running very late. Rumple had planned to open the shop for a few hours today, though not as long as he usually did. He had no intention of indulging in the last minute selling frenzy that some did. Since the town had woken up, they tended to older traditions, though. Many people had given their gifts on the Solstice day, or like he and Belle, had given some then and saved a few for Christmas just for appearances.

Of course, Rumple would have spoiled her horribly if she had allowed it, but Belle had put her foot down. Besides, there was Bae, Henry, and she was quite certain that against her objections, he had bought gifts for the baby. Of course, thinking about it, Belle realised she might not have been specific enough. She distinctly remembered saying no gifts before the doctor's appointment, and no solstice gifts. " _Blast and Damn,_ " she thought a she realised on her way downstairs that she'd left him a loophole you could drive a large truck through. Ah, well, nothing for it now, she sighed as she went down the stairs to make them both a quick breakfast. Rumple had dragged himself away to the shower reluctantly as she bustled around the kitchen. After all, she had things that needed doing but more time to do them, and she still had one or two things to wrap herself, once she had him out of the house. Then there was his surprise.

Once the morning rituals of tea and breakfast were fulfilled, Rumplestiltskin went off to his shop, only a little late, with a kiss and a warning not to over tax herself. Belle wasn't exactly certain how she was supposed to do that. Mrs. Potts, their part time housekeeper, was coming in to clean the house. Ruby was going to come over after she finished working breakfast at the diner, and drive her to the store, not to mention her father's...well, friend, who was joining them later to help with the cooking. Even Dove had been roped in, to come and help move some of the furniture. Gods forbid she move anything heavier than a chair.

Meanwhile, she picked up her cell phone and sent a text. The coast was finally clear and as much as she would prefer this gift to be private, it wouldn't be possible to keep the secret that way.

Five minutes later there was a knock at the back door and Bae stuck his head in. "Is it safe?" he called.

"He's gone to the shop for the morning and I'm certain I can keep him out of there 'til tomorrow. He's sure he can get it finished?"

"Yeah, he cleared the entire morning for it. David and I will pick it up and take it to their house until tomorrow."

"Thank you for helping me with this. I couldn't manage it without you."

"It's fine, Belle. It'll make him happy and besides, it's not like Papa is easy to buy for or anything. What do you get for the sorcerer who has everything?" They both laughed and she offered him a cup of tea but a moment later the truck pulled up and they set to work retrieving the object they had come for and getting out. "Pop's a little short of patience over the holidays, I don't want to risk getting caught," he said as he refused her offer to stay and finish his tea. He gave Belle a quick kiss on the cheek and hurried off. One more thing off her to do list.

 

Rumplestiltskin was in the backroom of his shop, working. He hadn't necessarily wanted to bother opening the shop today but he had an ulterior motive. He was working on a gift for Belle and the baby, and not only were most of his jeweler's tools there, but also he was reluctant to work any magic, even the limited and not the least bit dark magic necessary to make a protective charm for their child, in the house with her. Not only would it ruin the surprise if she found out, but not knowing if their child had magic, there was no way to tell what the effect would be.

It was there in the back of the shop that he was carefully setting the charm into the necklace he had made her when the bell rang. He cursed just a little and went to see who it was and what they wanted. Just a couple more hours and he could lock the door and go back home to...Unfortunately he realised that he would be going home to find people, not people he necessarily objected to, not specifically, but there would be people in his house, again. All this socialising, it was going to be the death of him, he thought to himself and he made his way into the front of the shop, only to stop suddenly as his grandson bounced into him coming through the curtain and almost knocking him from his feet.

"Grandpa, you've got to come quick, something is wrong with my mom."


	2. Mishap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rumplestiltskin discovers that his day is not going to be as quiet as he would like.

Gold started to move before he had even asked the most important question, putting his things away quickly and carefully. "Which one?" he asked, pulling on his coat and locking the back door before ushering Henry before him. It was an awkward question for many reasons, and he wasn't certain which one he would prefer, if one could have a preference in such things. Emma Swan was his son's True Love and while he might have wished for some other (any other) woman for his son to have fallen for, it was not something he would interfere with. Nor would he allow anyone else to. Then there was Regina. They had always had a complicated relationship. She had been his apprentice, and as much as the Dark One inside him had approved of her darkness, the rest of him had always wondered what would have been, if only...

"It's Regina, what are we going to do?"

"Well first you are going to tell me what you know. Where is she?" he asked, reaching to turn the sign.

"She's at home. I was supposed to spend today with her and stay tonight. Mom's working this morning, and Papa is..." he paused. He knew exactly what his father was up to, but he was also sworn to secrecy. "He's helping Belle," he said finally. "He was going to see if she needed him to do some running around for her, since, you know..." To give credit, Gold was distracted enough that he just nodded as he followed his grandson out.

"Hey Gold, thought you were staying open for a while," Leroy the dwarf called to him. He had asked for a piece that needed minor repairs for his own love, and Gold promised to have it just after lunch.

"There is a...family problem." he said, low enough not to be heard far.

"It's not Belle?" he asked immediately.

"No, not Belle. I'll call Dove, have him open up for long enough..."

"I'll call him for you," Leroy said. "You go do what needs to be done." His voice was gruff but underneath was understanding. If Gold was moving quickly, it meant some magical incident and they had all learned the hard way that magic that required him was best handled sooner rather than later.

"Thank you," Gold said reluctantly. Neither of them was good with that sort of thing. They had tolerated one another because of Belle, and because they both understood what it was to love in less than ideal circumstances. Leroy was standing in front of the shop, phone to his ear when the Cadillac pulled away.

"Now Henry, continue," he said driving fast enough that he was likely to get another ticket. He really needed to talk to the town council about an exception for people responding to magical emergencies.

"I walked over about halfway from home. Papa dropped me off at the end of the street. When I got up to the door, it was standing open. Mom was lying inside, staring straight ahead, like she was frozen. I wanted to check her pulse, but I was kind of afraid, she seemed....stiff. But I could see her breathing. I called 911 and Emma. She said it was magic, when she got there, and I should run and get you. I could have called, I guess," he said a little sheepishly, realising he had forgotten his beloved cell phone.

Privately Gold suspected they had sent him rather than calling to get him away from the scene, but it mattered little at the moment, as they pulled up to Regina's mansion. It was a bit of a circus. There was the one Storybrooke ambulance, staffed by a former coachman for King Midas, and a couple of mice that he thought vaguely he might have once transformed, or were they rats? _Rodents of some sort_ , he thought dismissively. Then there was Emma Swan and the one and only sheriff's squad car. Sidney Glass was standing torn between worry for Regina, whom he had always had an irrational attachment to, and taking notes for the paper.

"Clear out, everyone. Please," Emma called as she caught sight of Gold. "Never thought I'd be so glad to see you."

"You say that every time," he reminded her. "Now, what happened?"

"No clue. It's magic, I can feel that much, but..." she shrugged. "Paper on the floor, and a box, looks like she opened something... It's in her hand."

Regina lay on the tile in her foyer looking pale even for her. Her face was a masque of surprise and just a hint of panic, and her eyes were open wide. Looking at them, Rumplestiltskin was shocked to see that he could detect consciousness. "Well, this is awkward," he said. "Regina, can you hear me?" He watched carefully. Her eyes moved, just a bit, in the direction of her hand. He could see it, well part of it, the object that had caused all the trouble. He knelt carefully, and ran a hand about a foot over her body, a slight puff of purple smoke the only sign of magic. Closing his eyes, he tried to see the spell that was cast on it. The magic was familiar, but not his, or at least, he had not made it, that wasn't to say it wasn't made by one of his predecessors.

Rumplestiltskin sighed, wondering when his life had come to this, to cleaning up magical mishaps. He could unravel it, that he was certain of. That was the good news. The bad news was it would take time and he wasn't certain how much time Regina had. Already she was getting stiffer, as if turning to stone, or something similar. "We need to move her," he announced to Emma and the rest.

"Where, your house?" She asked, a little dubiously. Getting Regina in her current condition into that cellar laboratory of his wasn't going to be the easiest thing, but then Regina's own laboratory was under a mausoleum, so what did Emma know?

"No, the shop. I'd prefer not to disturb Belle with this." Emma nodded. As much as this was his excuse to get out of or cancel tonight's party, he couldn't do it. Belle had worked too hard and people were really looking forward to it. He couldn't disappoint his family, even if most of the time he didn't want most of them.

At his words, the ambulance crew had pulled up a gurney, before one of them looked at him cautiously. "All right to touch her?" he asked.

"The object in her right hand is the cause. As near as I can tell it's contact based. Don't touch it, in fact, just don't touch her right arm if you can help it."

"What about care, anything we can do?" the other asked.

He thought for a moment. He didn't know exactly what it did, but he had a pretty broad idea. Certainly some things couldn't hurt. "Oxygen, she's breathing but very shallowly. It might help. Maybe something for her eyes, since she can't blink?" he hazarded. As much as he hated the idea, he also told them to call Whale to meet them at the shop. He'd really hoped for a quiet day, but clearly that wasn't in the cards.

He started to rise and was only a little surprised to find an outstretched hand offered to him. "Anything else you need?" the Sheriff asked, and he knew exactly what it was she was saying.

"No, not at the moment. Just see what you can find out here. Be careful. The object itself is what is fueling this, but there might be some more nasty surprises. It would help to know where she got it from. I would also appreciate it if no one told Belle, not any sooner than necessary."

"Not sure I can make that happen, but I will try." He nodded.

"Best send Henry somewhere too."

Emma agreed, not sure what she was going to be able to do with him. Between concern for Regina and a fascination with his Grandfather and magic, she just didn't know how much she could keep him away. But they both knew that too. Gold limped off towards his car, hoping that he could solve this puzzle quickly and even more, quietly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to those who are reading this. Please comment, etc, etc. I am working this into my already busy cue but really hope it doesn't go too long. Enjoy.


	3. Frustration

Something was wrong, Belle just knew it. Rumple had called to say that he would be home a little later than planned. On the one hand, she was sure that he wasn't keen on being at the house while they were preparing for the party. However, he hadn't particularly wanted to open today at all and only planned to because he had a few pieces that people were stopping by for. When she had asked, he had said vaguely that he had a difficult repair to deal with that needed to be done before tonight. Then it was Dove, calling to say he might be a little late as the boss needed him to handle something. Also not particularly odd. The man was very conscientious and punctual. But when Ruby called to ask if she could just give her the list of things that needed to be picked up, rather than shopping together, she knew something was going on in town. She was also certain that Rumple didn't want her to know about it.

"Ruby, what is going on?" she asked, exasperatedly.

"Nothing, nothing at all. The diner is just busy, and I..."

"Ruby Lucas, you tell me what is happening. Has something gone wrong?"

"I can't talk, Belle," the woman had told her. "I'll be over in a little while. I've got customers to serve," the wolf girl said before ringing off.

Belle was frustrated. She hated people not telling her things 'for her own good', always had. She was half tempted to get her coat and walk into town, but it was cold and if there wasn't an issue now Rumplestiltskin would most certainly make one over that. Deciding she would make a cup of tea to settle herself, she went into the kitchen.

Mrs. Potts arrived as she was settling down. "Hello Dear, " the older woman said with a smile as she hung up her coat by the back door. "I brought you a little something for the holiday, just something for the wee one, you understand."

Belle couldn't help but smile. She and Rumplestiltskin had tried to make it clear that they didn't want or need gifts but something for the baby, well she couldn't say no to that, even though it was very early on and it wasn't as if they needed anything. She couldn't even begin to think about all of that. When the idea of a baby shower was broached by Snow, Rumple had been offended by the very thought that anyone would think he might not be able to provide everything and more than the child might need.

It had taken a certain amount of talking, explaining that she meant it as a compliment, allowing friends to show how happy they were for them to calm him down. Even then she had to convince him that nothing was going to be done about it until after the wedding to get him to agree to think about it. Some things he was probably always going to be prickly about. He had his pride. Shaking off those thoughts, Belle had gone to collect a wrapped parcel of her own for the housekeeper, a novelty tea pot to add to Mrs. Potts collection ('with a name like Potts, how could I not?')

Belle opened the box at the other woman's urging, to reveal a beautifully hand knitted baby blanket in shades of blue and gold. It was all she could do to keep the tears back. It was perfect and in their colours too. After all, what baby could possibly have too many baby blankets? "It's beautiful, thank you," she said as she rose to put it carefully on display next to the tree she had insisted on.

The tea pot was equally well received and the older woman had a twinkle in her eye as she gathered her supplies from the cupboard. "I'll just start at the top and save the kitchen for last. After all you will be busy in here and I can lend a hand to the clean up without having to do it twice," she said as she put her working smock on.

"Mrs. Potts, was something going on in town, when you drove over?" she asked.

"In town? My dear, I don't know. I didn't come through town, was baby sitting the wee 'un first thing. My son's working today and my daughter in law needed to pick up a few things. Always the way that you run out of milk or sugar just before the holiday." With that, the woman bustled out. It could be true, after all she knew Mrs. Potts had a grandchild that she was deeply enamored of. and was always looking for a good reason to take care of him.

Still, Belle was disturbed. Rather than think about it further, she decided to take some time and wrap the last of the presents before she started with the food. Not that they were doing a proper dinner, but in some ways this was harder, there was more to prepare. But that was a worry for later. At least she wouldn't have to worry about where everyone would sit.

 

Gold directed them to bring Regina into the shop by the back door in order to keep the disruption to a minimum. He was glad he had moved at least some of his equipment over from the house. It was nothing like his full laboratory, but enough to have a separate and mostly functional workspace. Now he just hoped it wasn't too complicated, or at least that he had what he needed on hand. He could at least diagnose her from the shop, of that he was sure. But he dreaded the thought of what he would do if he had to bring her home and in her current state.

They had just gotten Regina moved onto the cot in the back room and started to leave when Dr. Whale (Frankenstein) rushed in with his bag. "What's happening and why is she here and not at the hospital?" he said breathlessly. Clearly they had not told him much about the situation.

"Because, I can hardly deal with the magical object that has rendered Regina...stiff at the hospital, now can I dearie?" Rumplestiltskin growled right back. "Watch her right hand. I don't know if the object that did this is still active. Best not touch, wouldn't do us any good if you succumbed as well."

Whale pulled away from her as if he'd been burned. He was a man of science, not magic and despite he number of times he had seen it, he couldn't completely believe and probably never would. He would continue to try to apply science to it. That didn't mean he wasn't going to take precautions.

"Well, get on with it." Rumplestiltskin glared at him from where he was standing with a large book open in front of him and a cauldron sitting on a metal contraption, smoking faintly.

Whale decided to ignore him, and get back to trying to figure out what he was supposed to do with Regina. The other man might no longer be the imp of the fairy tale realm who had come to him so long ago but he was no less dangerous for wearing a human face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. Please, please comment, I'm kind of writing in the dark here. Also thanks to my sister, BardicRaven for betaing me.


	4. Interuptions

Whale did what he could to examine her without touching anything. Behind him he could hear and smell...things. He didn't want to know what the other man was doing. Ignoring magic was his go to.

"How is she?" Gold (he flat refused to think of him as Rumplestiltskin) asked.

"Stable as near as I can tell. Except that she continues to stiffen, almost like a corpse. I've drawn some blood but I will have to get someone to run it to the lab. But if it is..."

"Magical."

"As you say. I'm not certain what I can do for her," he said looking down, realising for possibly the first time exactly how beautiful she was. At least until he also remembered who she was. Adding 'Evil Queen' with the 'sorceress' and 'member of Gold and Prince Charming's extended family' factors, should at the very least equate to a giant glowing skull and crossbones. Still...

"Right now you will take this," Gold said handing the doctor a bottle glowing faintly blue. "And when I tell you to, you will pour it over her right hand."

"I...and what will you be doing?" he asked, startled.

"I will be trying to catch what is in her hand," he said briefly. The Doctor noticed he had donned long, thick gloves of some scaly material he didn't recognise. "Dragon Hide," Gold said to him, noticing his look. "Generally immune to most magic. These have been specially treated to be even more so. I doubt this magic could effect me, but better safe than frozen," he said with a hint of his old grin.

The two men arranged themselves carefully in the small space between the cot and the work table. "Okay," Gold said. "On three?" He was hoping that it would just drop out of her hand and he could catch it. At worst he would have to pry it out as quickly as he could. "One...Two..."

"Grandpa." The door flung open and his grandson came flying in. Whale flailed for just a moment before steadying himself, clutching the bottle to him.

"Henry, go back outside, please," he said. "This is a bit tricky. I will let you in when it is safe."

Henry just nodded and backed carefully out the back door. It didn't take a lot to realise he had almost interrupted something at a bad place. Instead, he stood outside trying to peer through the curtains.

With a flick of the wrist, Rumplestiltskin locked the door and met Whale's eye. The position was bad for his leg and he wanted to save all the magic he could for the next phase.

"One...Two...Three." Whale poured the potion and watched as it touched her flesh. There was a strange, creeping gold light that seemed to sink into her skin and her hand jerked spasmodically. The object dropped into Rumplestiltskin's gloved hand just as her hand jerked back again.

The sorcerer looked at it properly for the first time. It was a chess piece, perfectly formed and precise in a way that could only be crafted from magic in their old world, one perfect piece of black stone in the shape of a black queen.

Something sparked in his memory as he rose carefully to set it on the table in a magic proof box. He knew without a doubt now that he had not created it, but it sparked something. The problem, he reflected, with not only having an extraordinarily long life as well as the residual memories of all of those who had shared the curse before him was there was an awful lot to remember. And with his curse broken, or at least inactive (he wasn't actually sure which, he wasn't sure what he and Belle had done when Pan was defeated to reach their current state), his memory wasn't what it once was. Not Zoso, he thought, trying to sort back through the memories he shared. The Dark Ones before him were a motley collection of the power hungry, the mad and worse. Actually Zoso was better than most of them, and that wasn't really saying a lot. This was clearly a spell meant to torture as well as to kill, paralyzing the victim and slowly causing their body to transform, harden. There was something there, something about....

The pounding on the back door and Whale attempting to get his attention shattered his concentration and he could feel the elusive memory slip away. He cursed before turning his attention back to them. It would probably involve some research, he thought, but that was for later. After making certain that the piece was not in danger of being touched by curious hands, he turned and opened the back door.

"Come in, Henry," he said. "But stay away from my work table." The boy nodded.

"How's my mom?" he asked as he moved to stand beside her.

"Well, she isn't getting worse, her breathing seems a bit easier, but I'll need to see beyond that."

"If the effect was limited to contact, she would already have returned to normal, so it was meant for continuous contact." Or possibly to be used on contact, taken away and used again. Fortunately Regina, being Regina, and probably being aware of it the moment she held it, had tightened her grip. In all likelihood she had done it to protect Henry, he thought. "I need to see if I can deconstruct the magic, or at least figure out the nature of it. Then I can create a restorative. She should start coming out of it slowly though, as her own magic is no longer affected. Henry, she will be fine. Now why don't you..." He started to tell his grandson when the shop bell rang. "Blasted bleeding Gods, am I forever to be interrupted today?"  
He heard Dove, who was manning the counter let out a startled "Miss Belle, I..."

"Dove, I brought Rumple his lunch," she said clearly from the far side of the curtain. He hurried around to catch her before she came through the curtain. Of course it was hopeless, between his leg, the number of people (two more besides he and Regina was quite a lot when his back room was as crowded with stuff as it was now).

"Belle...I..." He started completely unsure what to say. Rumplestiltskin most certainly didn't want to fight with her, not now.

"Rumplestiltskin, what is going on? What is..." He made it far enough to prevent her from getting any closer to his work table, bringing her up short in his arms and maneuvering her carefully away.

"Belle, it's nothing to concern yourself with..." he said soothingly.

"What happened to Regina?" She took in Whale, a blood pressure cuff wrapped around the Queen's arm, and the stethoscope in his ears, and Henry standing by.

"Someone sent Regina a magical...gift, one with a rather complex spell on it," Rumplestiltskin told her. "I've gotten it away from her and into a magic safe container and she should be fine."

"Why didn't you tell me? What can I do to help?" she asked.

Rumple couldn't help but smile at that. Considering their history, Regina was the last person she should want to help, not that he would let her of course. "You can help by going, love. Already too crowded in here."

"Rumplestiltskin, don't you try to put me in some kind of..."

Henry and Dr. Whale looked at one another, before looking at Regina, the room, anything but the two lovers. Henry because they were his grandparents, or close enough, while Whale was almost certain no one else could talk to the man that way and live. Witnessing it might have him crawling home leaving a slime trail, something he preferred to avoid.

"Nothing like it. I don't know this magic and I want you and the baby far away from it. Besides, love, you have no magic." He smiled fondly. It was one of the great ironies of his life. While most people had some capacity for magic, more or less depending on the individual, she was not most people. Where his beloved was concerned, outside of True Love, she had the magical potential of a rock. Actually rocks generally had more than she did. "Besides, there is the party..."

"Party be damned, this is an Emergency!"

"She seems to definitely be coming out of it, albeit slowly. Her heart rate has increased," Whale stated. "But at this rate, it could take a day or so, possibly longer. I just don't know."

"She'll miss Christmas," Henry said.

Very little could stir Rumplestiltskin to action the way the disappointment in his grandson's voice could. "I'm certain I can get a restorative potion made for her, Henry. I just need to analyze the magic. I wish I could put my finger on why it looks familiar. I don't have my books, not all of them. I can do it without, but it will take a little time..."

"I could do that for you," Belle said brightly.

"Huh?" Rumplestiltskin said distractedly as he was forcibly dragged out of his thoughts.

"You analyze this...whatever it is," she said waving a hand toward the box, which he caught reflexively. Pregnancy had not improved her balance, and he most certainly wasn't letting her close enough to see it better. "I can go home and look through your books, do some research."

Rumplestiltskin thought about it. He didn't have any real objections, she was the best researcher he knew in this or any other world.

"But what about the party?" he asked, thinking seriously about her proposition.

"I have more than enough help for that. It's not like anyone will really let me do anything anyway, and this is important," she said letting her eyes flick to Henry.

"Very well," he said reluctantly.

"Good, Eve is waiting for me with Ruby at the diner. She drove me to town when Ruby suddenly seemed too busy to come get me for some reason." She looked at him pointedly. "Make me a list of books to check first and keywords to search under." Belle leaned close for a kiss, before whispering in his ear. "And next time you try to keep something like this from me, you will be sleeping right where Regina is, for a week."

It was low enough that only he could hear it. Not that anyone else would believe it. "Yes, my love. Why don't I make that list and have Henry bring it over to you at the store?"

"Yes. In fact, Henry, would you like to help me?"

"I...would it be okay?" he asked. Rumple could see what Belle was doing. Henry was fascinated by magic and desperate to help, but they all agreed he was too young to start. This way he could feel useful without being underfoot or in danger.

"Be fine, Henry. I suspect it would make your parents much happier, especially when they discover you aren't where you are supposed to be, eh?" Henry had the good form to blush before agreeing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you you lovely people for reading. Please to use the little comment button, make my muse happy. Also as always, thanks to my beta, BardicRaven.


	5. Party?

It was almost five o'clock on Christmas Eve. Belle and Henry were in Rumple's office with books stacked in front of them and a list in his elegant handwriting between them. There was even a photograph that Henry had taken with his cell phone.

Eve and Ruby had been very understanding, and Mrs. Potts had joined them immediately. Belle was certain everything was proceding fine without her. She was actually rather impressed with the way people were pulling together, regardless of how they felt about Regina. Of course it could be the fact that these incidents had happened more than once, and perhaps there was an element of hoping if it did happen to them, they would hope for the same. Dove had shown up about an hour after they arrived. Bae had joined his father at the shop to take care of the counter, and the man had been dispatched to help move furniture, and 'assist her in any way necessary' (his words exactly). In addition to helping push the dining room table against the wall, and other furniture moving to make more space, he had delivered the entire list of books that his boss and given them, and one or two the man had thought of after they left, now littering the desk between the two researchers.

"Belle, I think...is this something?" Henry asked excitingly. He'd been leafing through what looked like a notebook or journal written in an old form of an extinct language that Belle thought might have been used in the kingdom that George had ruled in the old world. She couldn't read much of it herself, but she had set the young man to looking through it, since there were a lot of drawings and diagrams. She picked the book up and tried to pick out the words that she could recognise. It made her shiver, but she was pretty certain it was at least similar to what they were looking for, and might be a help.

"Yes, Henry, I think it is," she said, standing up to stretch. She knew she had been sitting too long.

"Should I run it over to the shop?" He asked eagerly, and she could see how much he desperately wanted to know what was going on with his mother.

"Why don't we see if Dove is still here. He can drive you over. Besides, I don't know about you, but I could use a cup of tea and maybe we can see if there are extra cookies? I need to check and see how things are coming together anyway."

Henry nodded and the two of them made their way into the kitchen which was filling the house with mouth watering smells. Ruby was pulling a last few things out of the oven. She told Belle that Eve had already left to get ready, and urged her to sit with them for a minute while she fixed her a cup of tea (decaffeinated, ugh). There was very little left to do, at least until the last minute setting of the food out. The furniture was all moved, the tables had been set by Mrs. Potts before she left and now things had settled down. She passed Henry a ginger cookie as well from the batch cooling on the counter, and he ran off to see where Dove was.

They were both getting their coats when the back door opened and Gold walked in.

"Grandpa, how..." he started to asked.

"See for yourself," the older man said, as Regina walked in right behind him. She was looking tired and a little pale but she was moving under her own power, which was a vast improvement.

"Mom," the young man said, throwing his arms around her.

"Regina, please sit down, let me get you a cup of tea," Belle said.

"I'm on it," Ruby said from the other side of the counter, while Belle gestured the woman to a chair. Regina sat down, allowing a little look of gratitude to pass over her face. They were never going to be friends, and Gold was probably never going to trust her too near Belle, but at the moment, she was no threat to anyone.

"She insisted on seeing Henry first thing. I thought I would have Dove drive them both home," Rumplestiltskin said, as he reached for Belle. In the atmosphere of quiet cheer, Belle was pretty certain that no one noticed exactly how tired he looked. It wasn't surprising, he wasn't one to allow anyone to see any weakness, anyone but her.

After a cup of tea, and convincing her to at least eat a couple of ginger cookies, they sent them home, Dove already prepared and standing ready.

"Rumplestiltskin," Regina said quietly enough not to be overheard by any but Henry and Belle. "Thank you."

"T's nothing, dearie," he replied. "Henry, make certain your mother rests."

"I'll try, she's kind of stubborn." He grinned cheekily. "Oh, Grandpa, Belle and I found something..."

"I'll take care of it. You go look after Regina." Henry nodded and the two of them departed with Dove. 

"Now," Belle said. "Why don't you go and get a shower and a rest?" she asked. Belle knew that Rumple would be reluctant to rest, but she hoped that she could convince him. "The party isn't for hours."

"The book..." He started.

"Go on, I'll bring it up in a bit," she said with a smile. The chances of him actually doing what she asked were much higher if she had something to entice him with, well something other than the usual. He gave in far easier than he would have done usually, a testament to exactly how tired he was.

Ruby looked at her after he left. "I'm pretty much done here, why don't you go take care of him? I'll just put these on the platter, and then head home. I think he needs you right now." Belle nodded and gave her friend a hug. A lot of people underestimated the perceptiveness of the wolf girl, but she wasn't one of them, and right now she appreciated it more than ever.

 

The party was in full swing. After a bit of wrangling, Belle had talked Rumplestiltskin into a full bath, with the promise that she would at least sit with him and tell him what they had found. "I was thinking about that," he said, leaning back in the water. "I will have to look but I am afraid that is the journal of one of the previous Dark Ones. He was...one of the least pleasant ones. I can look at it..."

"You can look at it later," she had told him. "The piece is safe, Regina is back to normal, more or less. Right now, all you really need to do is get some rest before the party."

"Only if you join me," he had responded, and so she had. It was fortunate for them that the party wasn't to start until after eight o'clock. They had actually gotten a little distracted and...well, getting dressed before Ruby returned had involved a certain amount of fumbling and cursing. Now, the tree was lit, the fireplace crackling merrily, and the mulled cider and mulled wine, both traditional recipes from their old world, was flowing. Belle looked over the gathering from her position on the stairs. Rumple was discussing something, she thought politics in the old world as compared to this one, with her father, and neither of them looked like they were going to hit the other, especially as David went to join the conversation. In the dining room door, she could see her father's 'friend' Eve talking to Mary Margaret, and Ruby was on the sofa with Archie Hopper. She really hoped that the two of them would find their way to being more than friends.

"Enjoying the party?" Bae asked as he came out of Rumple's office. Emma had disappeared in there with Regina for a few moments, to talk to her about what had happened this morning, and he seemed in good cheer.

"It all came together beautifully, despite everything," she told him.

"Yeah, I just hope things settled down for a bit. I don't know about you, but I want to think it was just something against Regina. I know there are people who are still angry at her. With luck this is a one off."

Belle nodded her agreement as she stepped down the stairs and he offered her an arm. All in all, a good Christmas Eve, at least she thought so. She just hopped it lasted, she thought as she allowed him to lead her over to Rumple.

"Hey Papa, look what I brought you. Merry Christmas," he said with a grin.

"And to you, son," the sorcerer said, raising his glass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, before the torches and pitchforks...Yes, there is an epilogue that will probably be up tomorrow that will clear up some things, except the ones that are related to a larger story arc within this series. Thank you for reading, and please, please to use the little buttons to let me know. Thank you, and thanks to my beta BardicRaven.


	6. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a few questions are answered and some aren't. See Notes for details.

Epilogue--

The evening was winding down and most of the guests had left when Emma Swan finally decided to talk to Rumplestiltskin. Not that they had been ignoring each other, but except for taking a few minutes to question Regina, she had let the party continue as it was. Knowing that despite her presence, Regina was recovering and would in all likelihood be encouraged to go home early, Emma had taken her aside for a few minutes. In fact, Henry had left with his other mother an hour ago. Henry had begged his parents to understand and Regina had looked painfully grateful when they had agreed. Emma'd asked her deputy to keep an eye on the place and Regina had invited both her and Bae for breakfast.

Emma was starting to trust her, but she wasn't that trusting and found herself countering with an invitation to the loft for waffles. She wasn't certain which surprised her more, that she offered or that Regina accepted. But she could worry about that later. For now, her mother was helping Belle and Ruby package up or put away the remaining food. Bae and David were helping Gold collect dishes and debris and shifting things back into place.

Emma caught Gold's eye and he nodded, excusing himself. Not that they didn't all know what it was about. They had tried to ignore the elephant in the room for the evening, but someone had gone after Regina. Not that it was completely unexpected, but it still couldn't be let to stand.

Gold poured himself a glass from a decanter on the sideboard once they were in the office, and offered her one. For once, Emma accepted. He handed her the glass before sitting down behind the desk with a sigh. For the first time, she could see the age that everyone talked about. It wasn't in the face or the body, she had to admit, in the not totally grossed because she was sleeping with his son part of her mind, he was in good shape for a man of his apparent age. It was in the eyes, eyes that had seen far too much for far too long. To cover those thoughts, she took a big sip of her drink.

"Whoa," she said, coughing just a little. "What is this?"

"Laphroaig, 18 years old. That's scotch, dearie," he added with a hint of a smile.

"I know what it is...more or less, just strong."

"My cursed self had a taste for it that I seem to have kept. Much smoother than what passed for strong drink back home," he told her. "Bit of a cliche for this world probably." He shrugged.

"Yeah, I've always wondered about that, why you sound Scottish, and no one else does."

"I can't tell you that for certain. I sound like everyone from my home kingdom did, even Bae. But of course he's been gone for a long while, and it must have faded over time. He was young when he went though the portal and my homeland was destroyed long ago. It's a side effect of being mostly immortal. But you didn't want to talk about my accent. What did you find out?"

Emma sighed. "Not a lot. The box it came in was still where Regina dropped it, so we were able to get it. I've got it down in evidence. Block letters, no return address, no finger prints. Unless you can do something..."

"Perhaps, if you bring it around to the shop I will see."

"Okay. I was able to track down the post man. According to him the package came form the post box on Main Street. He remembered noticing the lack of return address. But with it being Christmas, half the town has used that box for Christmas cards and what all."

"What did Regina have to say?" Rumplestiltskin asked, leaning back a little in the big leather chair.

"What you'd expect. She doesn't have any new enemies that she knows of. I don't think anyone would risk Henry getting it, but there are some people in town that hate her a lot. Most of them have settled down since we got back and she retired, her house hasn't been egged in weeks, but I don't really know. Could it just be one of the random magical objects that have been turning up? Maybe someone found it and thought it was hers but was too afraid to return it?"

"I would like to believe that, really I would. Though as most people finding things they don't recognise, return them to me, or to the Blue Fairy. I doubt it," he said, thinking for a few moments. "That is a very powerful magical artifact. I thought I had most of those locked up, or Regina did. The stuff that has turned up around town has been fairly minor."

"What do you know?" Emma asked. She could tell he wasn't saying everything.

"I though it looked familiar," he said slowly. "I didn't make it, not exactly."

"What does 'not exactly' mean?" she asked warily. She knew better than to play word games with Rumplestiltskin.

"Henry and Belle found a reference, along with a picture in an old journal, the journal kept by a previous Dark One."

"What does that even mean? Remember, I didn't grow up on this fairy tale...stuff."

"Simple enough, dearie. Before I took the curse, someone else had it. The Dark One is a title, but it's also...the curse transfers to a new host when the old host..."

"You killed the guy with the big, curvy knife to save Bae form the Ogre Wars, I got that story, what does it mean to this?" She said cutting him off.

"It means that while the curse is now broken, I have at least some of the residual memories of those that went before me, though they are no longer a part of me. While I didn't make the artifact myself, it was made with my magic, and I have some vague memories of that time."

"Okay, so can you do something about it? Neutralise it or something?"

"I can try, I'm the only one likely to have any possibility of doing it. If I cannot, I can banish it to... a place where it will never see the light of day again."

"That's good enough for me," Emma said. "We may never find out who sent it to Regina, or why, but at least it won't hurt anyone else. Do you remember, or does he remember, however that works, what happened to it? I'm just wondering how such a dangerous object got into the hands of someone."

"That I cannot tell you. Things have turned up in odd places before and of course Regina and I had prepared, we made it so that those things we might need came with us all together, even if we didn't know what they were at the time, same for the fairies. I just don't know."

"Did you have it before?"

"It was not in my possession when the curse fell, if that is what you are asking. As near as I can remember he was captured by the clerics. The rest is a bit hazy. It has been a long time, you know and it's not easy or exact, especially with the curse no longer active."

"So, I'm guessing, since I've never heard of them or seen them around town, that they aren't exactly around to ask?"

"Not that I know of. The order broke up, or rather was forced to break up when Regina took power. They were never keen on magic or at least, any magic that wasn't practiced by them. They departed to other kingdoms if they could. Not that they were any more popular there, some kingdoms more than others. In most places they were little more than a fringe religion. There were chapter houses in a dozen kingdoms at one time, before their methods became more extreme, at least publicly. But that was when I was young, and by that I mean long before Bae was born. Anything could have happened to the things he created in that time. It is at least...Maybe a thousand years ago?" he said vaguely.

"Great, so not much hope of tracking down someone who would know, assuming I could even find one of those clerics. The chances of solving this just dropped from slim to none, and slim took the bus to Portland. Let's hope it's a fluke."

"Perhaps, and we can hope. But one thing worries me, what happened to the rest of the set?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, before the torches and pitchforks come out, yes, I left it hanging. The answer is part of a longer story arc that will be carrying on in these stories, and the answer will come, among other things. Thank you for reading, and thanks for my sister BardicRaven for the beta and not screaming in my ear. Please do the usual stuff, and this series will return in future installments.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this is the story I meant to get done last year, but the New Years Eve story ate my brain. Thanks to my sister, BardicRaven for betaing and generally listening to me rant. Please read, review and all like that.


End file.
